Hogwarts
by Ripper101
Summary: Ever wondered exactly how Giles and Ethan met and how they gathered enough know-how to summon Eyghon in the first place?
1. 1

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters- obviously! Suing me will only get you a moth-eaten closet of clothes.  
  
Author's Note: Very, very pre-Buffy! Rupert Giles is young (about 15 or 16) and already rebelling when he attends a 'special' school for those like him (aha!) and meets someone who is due to become very familiar to the rest of his life- take a wild guess as to who it is!  
  
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"And so here I am," Rupert Giles said distastefully, looking around the carriage he was slouched in, "And I suppose I'll have to stay put until they allow me out."  
  
The slightly shorter, thinner youth sitting opposite him was slouched in much the same way, lounging bonelessly in a manner that not even the young Watcher-in-Training could hope to cultivate, should he ever decide to want to.  
  
"Could be worse," Ethan Rayne commented, "Could be prison. Went there once; didn't like it."  
  
Giles cast a professional eye over him and grinned meaningfully. "I'll bet you didn't!"  
  
Ethan grinned back but adopted his snootiest tone of voice. Oh, his socialite mother would have been proud. "And what, may I ask, am I to infer from that?"  
  
"That you're a sodding pansy and far too upper class to park your arse on some damp prison floor," Giles shot out. He did think this new acquaintance had some sense of humor- something lacking in the rest of his previous classmates- but he wasn't quite sure how far he could take it before Rayne screamed insult.  
  
He needn't have bothered. Rayne gave a short wriggle that managed to somehow look sensuous and playful all at the same time and sighed, "Right on both counts, m'dear. How frightfully clever of you!"  
  
Rupert couldn't help giving a small grin at that laviscious wink. "So, why are *you* here?" he asked. "Don't think I've met you before."  
  
"Love, if you had seen me out there in the real world, you would have remembered me. No, I was invited by a rather enterprising owl." Giles looked confused. "Ah, I see you don't know, then! Well, if you are deemed magically intelligent, the school sends out an invitation to join. As most of this community's post is comprised of a few droopy-cheeked, flu-powder- wielding special postmen and owls, generally you get an owl. Unless you're a muggle, in which case there are other ways. I got an owl anyway and here I am; a Hogwarts' man for life."  
  
Giles' eyes widened slightly with this influx of scrambled information. "For the magically inclined, huh? Well, I guess that's why I'm being sent here. Though more because I get the feeling they want me to control it. I blew up the kitchen last time I was home."  
  
Ethan let out a shout of laughter. "How the bloody hell did you manage that?"  
  
Rupert shrugged with studied indifference but a sheepish look in his eyes. "Our cook was bugging me; I thought I'd teach her a lesson. So I mixed a blaster potion and tossed the damn thing right in. Just my luck, it landed near the stove!"  
  
"Did you incinerate the bitch?" Ethan chortled, sitting up and leaning forward, dark eyes sparkling. "Oh, please tell me you did!"  
  
"No, dimwit! 'O course not! Man, I would have really been kicked for that. Got strapped as it was," Rupert grimaced.  
  
Ethan stilled, face curious. "Your parents strap you? Huh! Tough love, I guess."  
  
Rupert's green eyes hardened, his jaw tightening until it was one stark line, "My parents haven't laid a finger on me. They're dead. This was a guardian."  
  
Ethan shrugged and sat back again, re-draping himself in the uncomfortable seat. He didn't bother to apologize; he never did. To his mind, if he needed to apologize, he had to feel sorry for it. And Ethan Rayne figured that to learn you had to ask questions. So if he now knew enough to stay off the topic, what was there to be sorry about?  
  
The sudden bustle in the corridor caught their attention after a half-an- hour silence. Rupert stiffened as if readying himself for a fight, his senses still not fully wakened from his brief doze. Ethan grabbed his knee and shook his head. "We're almost there," the youth informed his new acquaintance, "We need to get all togged up; robes and stuff, you know. Come on! Move your arse."  
  
"A'right, a'right; I'm coming," Rupert yawned, "Geez, God! Remind me never to take long train journeys after a late night."  
  
"Oh, had a party, did you?" Ethan asked good naturedly, "And what, may I ask, is your idea of a late night?"  
  
"Never getting to bed?" Rupert murmured innocently, green eyes glinting evilly even as he opened them wide in youthful enquiry.  
  
Ethan chuckled and turned away to get his bags ready. He politely told his companion to leave all 'his shit' on the train and just worry about himself. But he could have saved his breath; if there was one thing this Rupert Giles seemed good at, it was curling his lip at those insignificant insects who dared to get in his way. Ethan very sweetly let him go first and then followed gaily in his wake.  
  
"First Years this way," a voice was yelling. "First years- oh, come off it, Derek Ingles; get out of the way- First years *here*!"  
  
"Uh, that's Spartan," Ethan explained, pushing him to follow a gaggle of excited girls who looked about their age. "Follow the Twittering Threesome, love; they won't steer you wrong."  
  
"Spartan? Like 'Greeks and'?" Rupert asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"No," Ethan smirked, "Spartan, like 'Mr.'. He's our groundskeeper. We were supposed to get a fellow named Hagrid, big giant of a bloke. Got expelled two years ago if I remember rightly, but very nice. Always watched out for us little children."  
  
"He sounds delightful," Rupert commented dryly, looking back in front to avoid stepping on anyone's pet toad.  
  
"And who have we here?" The soft, silky voice belonged to the leader of the little gang that blocked Rupert's way. The new boy drew himself up to his full height and raised a cold eyebrow. The small disdainful twitch from the blond-headed opposition was his only answer.  
  
"Oh shit," Ethan sighed.  
  
Rupert maneuvered himself into a position where he could glance quickly back at Ethan without taking his eyes off his problem for more than a second. His new friend and acquaintance seemed to be almost dangling from the grip on the front of his robes by a guy who looked like a prizefighter. "Let him down now and I won't break your wrist," Rupert said quietly.  
  
"I see you have courage for someone so very- new," the leader said. Somehow he managed to make it sound like an insult. "Lucius Malfoy, by the way; just thought I'd introduce myself so that you'll know to avoid me. I can make life very unpleasant for you, should you fail to do so."  
  
"You know, I had a chemistry professor like you last year," Rupert commented, "I didn't like him."  
  
"I really don't care about the particulars of your boring life," Lucius interrupted, gray eyes flashing, "I've given you warning. Rayne, see that the new boy keeps my rules, hmmm?"  
  
Lucius walked off with his group, the prizefighter getting in one good punch to Ethan's stomach before following them. Rupert helped his now sputtering friend to stand up again but stared after Malfoy with a thoughtful look on his face.  
  
"Yes, thank you, dearest, I'm fine," Ethan griped sarcastically, "I'm dying of internal hemorrhaging and you're watching the movement of Malfoy's arse?"  
  
Rupert Giles grinned suddenly, a wicked look on his face. "What precisely are you like in school?" Ethan looked uncertain as to what was being asked of him. "I meant, are you a good little boy who lives by the rules?" Ethan just looked amused as he shook his head. "Good! I believe we'll get along fine, then!" 


	2. 2

"Minerva, get that boy out of the school if you want me to stay sane," Professor Flitwick pleaded, "It's bad enough with James Potter and Lucius Malfoy at each other's throats without adding the antics of Rupert Giles and Ethan Rayne to the mix!"  
  
Professor McGonagall groaned softly but put down her pen and nodded encouragingly. "What did the little twits do this time?"  
  
"They enchanted my ink!"  
  
How Flitwick managed to speak through gnashing teeth was something Professor McGonagall was dying to ask about. She wisely kept counsel and let him continue- "Yes, but what did they *do*?"  
  
"They made it fluctuate color! Which is all very pretty, except that it completely turned the charm I was teaching the class on its head! Headmaster Dumbledore will be pleased to learn that the room has stopped rotating anti-clockwise and that we *finally* managed to find the door before Regina Lockhouse was sick, but really! That Giles is a pest almost worse than Ethan Rayne!"  
  
"He certainly is," McGonagall said with heartfelt sympathy, her eyes flashing, "And to think they're both in my house! I'll have a word with him."  
  
"Good," the tiny Charms Professor squeaked as he jumped off the chair he was standing on and trotted out the room, "And while you're at it, could you possibly stop Potter and his friends from instigating more mischief?"  
  
Professor McGonagall allowed herself the luxury of slamming her quill onto the desktop and muttering an appropriately nasty curse in Latin about hot- headed Gryffindor boys of 'just that age'.  
  
Meanwhile, Ethan Rayne and the culprit in question were blissfully engaged in the supposed research for a history project.  
  
"I tell you I won't get caught," Ethan whispered fiercely, leaning forward.  
  
"And I'm telling you, you will!" Rupert retorted, "Use your loaf, pillock, if you cast that spell, even in the grounds, they'll find out! And what with the Potter Brigade out and about every other night, we'll spend too much time hiding from the others!"  
  
"Not if we use that cloaking globe from here that we conjured up last time," Ethan reminded him, impatiently tapping the large book sitting innocently at the side.  
  
"You think Dumbledore's stupid, Ethan? He'll have protected against it." Rupert may have been game to play anything Ethan's fertile brain could come up with, but he had certain limits; something he was amazed to find Ethan didn't even bother with.  
  
"Pppffft," Ethan sighed airily, flicking his fingers, "We're doing earth magic anyway, not wand stuff! It's less easy to notice."  
  
Rupert sighed, green eyes wary. "Okay, let me research the spell a bit more and then I'll let you know. Until then, we keep this quiet."  
  
Suddenly Ethan stilled, his eyes fixed on a spot over Rupert's left shoulder. Without even turning around, the boy knew who his friend was looking at. He let out a heartfelt groan at the flicker of undefined emotion that always flew through Ethan's dark eyes when they alighted on the exquisitely kept figure of Lucius Malfoy.  
  
"You know, you really shouldn't bother," Rupert commented, "Malfoy won't look twice at you."  
  
Ethan started and stared at his friend's averted eyes. "W- what? No! I'm not bothered at all, damn it! And I don't want Malfoy to look twice at me! It's- ugh- Malfoy!"  
  
"Yes, but isn't that the point? That it's 'ugh- Malfoy'?" Rupert said patiently, spreading his hands palm flat on the table, "Every time you look at the bloke, you get that look in your eyes."  
  
Ethan was stung. "What look?" he asked.  
  
"The one that says you want to eat him for dessert."  
  
The usual defensive smirk dropped into place. "Love, that body guarantees a whole banquet, not just dessert. I'd start with the lips, of course. Make those shoulders the second course, and then start in on the main meal."  
  
Rupert watched the half-closed eyes in carefully hidden fascination and then grinned evilly. "So when does dessert come in?"  
  
"When I shag him, love," Ethan proclaimed, knowing he was slightly too loud and seeing one of the girls peeping at them look shocked and turn bright red. "Dearest, I'd say that that little filly with the red hair thinks you're gay now. I may perhaps have been a little too loud."  
  
Rupert shot a disinterested look at the girl in question and shrugged. "If she thinks I'm gay, she's nuts."  
  
Ethan's eyebrows rose slightly and his back might have stiffened. "Is that so? Got something against being gay?"  
  
"No!" The emphatic answer shocked and surprised both of them and half the library. All eyes in the nearby vicinity swiveled to look at the pair fast becoming the most notorious troublemakers in their form if not the school. Rupert lowered his voice and hissed in a more subdued tone, "I am not gay! But I don't have a problem with you being gay and I don't care if you are! Now stop getting so bloody defensive before I break your neck!"  
  
Ethan giggled and winked. "Oh, but I adore you when you get all gruff and manly. That really does it for me."  
  
"Ethan, a broomstick does it for you," Rupert reminded him sardonically, "You needed to go 'to the bathroom' in the middle of a bloody discussion on food of all things!"  
  
"But I really did need to go to the bathroom," his friend protested.  
  
"Yes. And I'm quite sure you enjoyed it thoroughly," Rupert deadpanned, "Come on! Let's go get some exercise. Wait, let me rephrase that; let *me* get some exercise and *you* can sit in a corner and feel tired just watching me." Ethan looked uncertain. Rupert grinned and leaned forward conspirationally, "Black found out about that Chaos spell you practiced on him. You know- the one where he thought he was being followed by invisible footsteps?"  
  
Ethan gulped and jumped up, immediately heading for out. The library would be the first place that Sirius Black would come looking for him. And he wouldn't like to meet that boy in deserted corridor anytime soon!  
  
Rupert Giles was conscious of Lucius Malfoy's eyes following the pair of them out. On an impulse, he looked squarely at his worst enemy, flipped him the finger and sauntered out again. Malfoy went pink and turned back with a sniff; not noticing the way Severus was staring after the two in amusement.  
  
The little room that Rupert Giles had been allotted for Watcher-Training Practice was just that- little! But the implements were serviceable and he at least had somewhere of his own. It turned out to be a duel blessing, considering the number of times he came in here to smoke or just sit alone and think.  
  
"Fighting axe again?" Ethan sighed mockingly, "Why do you never choose the more graceful rapier?"  
  
"Because it's too darn fiddly, " Rupert snorted, "How the hell can you cause any proper damage with a thin piece of steel?"  
  
Ethan smirked his trademark smirk and the next instant Rupert was staring down at the point of a rapier expertly held over his heart by a slender hand. "Touche," Ethan remarked.  
  
"Giles," a voice rang out just before the door opened.  
  
"Professor McGonagall," Ethan gulped. Not that wild horses could drag the secrets out of him, but there were two people he feared- one was the unpredictable anger that was his father, the other was this dragonish little lady for no discernible reason.  
  
"Mr. Rayne, what are *you* doing in here? This is supposed to be Giles' training room and unless you're helping him in some way, I see no reason for your presence," McGonagall grated, her words snapping in the tense air.  
  
"He *was* helping me, Professor," Rupert replied hurriedly, green eyes wide, "Honest, he was! With rapiers; see? I- I'm afraid I'm not very good at them and he says he knows a bit so he's helping me practice."  
  
"I see," she said noncommittally, "Very well then, let me have a look at what you're practicing."  
  
Rupert hoped that he didn't disarm his friend too fast. Not that he'd get a detention or anything; just that he'd been specifically warned to spend at least two hours *alone* in this room working on his prescribed tasks. And Ethan didn't count as thin air.  
  
But Ethan grinned wickedly, dark eyes sliding over to look at the thinning lips of his ever-observant House Mistress who had already made it abundantly clear that she blamed him for any gray hairs she'd gotten since his arrival here four years ago. He flexed his wrist unobtrusively and got into fighting stance.  
  
He'd been right; Rupert just didn't have the patience for this kind of swordplay. The youth was the type to pick up something that he could swing around and hack with. The lightening-quick, thrust-and-parry routine was not his forte. But it was Ethan's and that was clearly becoming obvious from the way Rupert's eyes began to darken.  
  
In spite of herself McGonagall was amused. Like Ethan, wild horses wouldn't drag it out of her that she liked these two outcasts who seemed to have taken an oath of allegiance to setting the entire school on it's head. And who would have thought, she laughed inside her mind, that foppish, lackadaisical Ethan Rayne would have bested the dashing Rupert Giles at his own game. She was looking forward to relaying the entire story to Albus when she saw him next.  
  
A sudden sweep to the left, a twist of his wrist and impeccable timing had Rupert's rapier clattering a few feet away while Ethan's was point-first against Rupert's throat. Ethan held his breath, taking in the furious stare of those green eyes looking into his and then suddenly the anger melted and merriment filled out.  
  
Rupert gave a grin and while both McGonagall and Ethan were puzzling it out, he threw himself backwards. His legs locked around Ethan's right arm and his friend found himself tossed to the floor. The Watcher-in-Training bounded back up only to find the cat-like Ethan prowling back to his feet, the laughter in his eyes sparkling.  
  
"Ahem!"  
  
"Professor McGonagall!" Rupert Giles stopped as if he'd been shot.  
  
The Professor sighed. "Yes, yes, Giles! I do know my own name. But I have a matter of a certain prank to discuss with you both. My office; now!"  
  
"Professor, if you mean the one in Charms class, then that was my responsibility," Ethan spoke up manfully, "it was my idea. Rupert was merely in a better position to carry it out."  
  
"A better position?" McGonagall was a little confused with that. Why did it matter what precise geographical location you were sitting in?  
  
"Professor Flitwick knows me, Professor," Ethan pointed out dismally, "He keeps a very close eye on me. It- it was my idea to have Rupert do it. But we didn't know that it would start the room spinning!" Dark brown eyes stared appealing at her, the lower lip almost pushing into a pout.  
  
Rupert hadn't actually seen Ethan in full victim mode; he found it rather a refreshing change, if anything. And that pout! If he'd been gay- which he wasn't!- he'd find it utterly kissable. In fact, he knew a friend who probably would have jumped Ethan on sight!  
  
"Both of you will have five points each deducted from your House," McGonagall said firmly, her eyes daring the students to challenge her words, "And you will both write a formal letter of apology each to Professor Flitwick"  
  
"Yes, Professor," Rupert said meekly. Ethan nodded and both looked respectfully at their shoes.  
  
She gave up. In two seconds she'd be out that door and the instant it shut behind her, she knew they were going to be back to their latest dare-devil plans and there was very little she could do to stop them. She snorted and left, shutting the door a little too hard behind her.  
  
"Whew!" Ethan sighed, mockingly wiping away a pretend drop of sweat. Rupert sent him an expressive look of agreement. "Think we got away with it?" the dark-haired boy asked.  
  
Rupert considered it carefully and nodded his sandy-brown head. "I think we have a spell we need to start working on." 


	3. 3

The soft voices intoning the chant were slow and rhythmic, perfectly modulated for the spell they were seeking to work under the light of the new moon. Therefore it was apparent that the loud foghorn going off all over the grounds was not precisely what they had been expecting to happen.  
  
"Shit! I knew we'd get caught," Ethan lectured, scrambling to break the circle and hide the evidence. "I told you!"  
  
"You- you liar! *I* told you," Rupert hissed, "And shut up and start running or else we're in trouble."  
  
The two slipped as noiselessly as they could through the window of the classroom they had left open, shrinking into the shadows to avoid Filch, the caretaker. Not that his absurd cat was likely to let them get away with it if she could. Rupert instantly took charge, shoving Ethan through the doorway and ducking down the corridor to the cloakroom. He pulled him inside and tried to listen for any footsteps.  
  
"We're clear," he whispered.  
  
Ethan rolled his eyes and looked annoyed. "Will you just follow me? I've done this before, you know."  
  
The shorter boy opened the door, ignoring the slight creak from the purposely unoiled hinges. He looked cautiously down the passageway and then pulled his friend behind him to another classroom with a tall cupboard tucked innocuously into the back. Rupert watched in fascination as Ethan stepped into it and motioned him in.  
  
"No bloody way!" Rupert didn't like small spaces and he was damned if his plan was going to include hiding in closets.  
  
"Fine! Stay here then," Ethan smirked, folding his arms, "But I can get us back to our room without anyone finding us. Even Potter and Malfoy don't know about this one."  
  
A sigh and Rupert stepped in and shut the door behind him. Ethan laughed quietly in his ear but caught hold of his fingers with one hand while reaching for a little hidden button with the other.  
  
"Allez," Ethan muttered casually, squeezing lightly on those trembling fingers as the entire contraption began to lift upwards. "Don't worry; we'll be fine. I've used this trapdoor before."  
  
Immediately Rupert pulled his hand away. "I wasn't worried," he mumbled, "Just thought it would be a waste of time. You could have said something, you know."  
  
"But where's the fun in that?"  
  
"Oh shut up."  
  
"Gladly, dearest."  
  
"And don't call me that!"  
  
"Very well, love."  
  
"And that either."  
  
"How about sweetpea?"  
  
"Oh Good Lord, go back to dearest!" Rupert sounded positively horrified, but Ethan chuckled at the rapidly more firm voice the youth had adopted.  
  
The two got out when the impromptu lift had stopped, finding themselves in their own Gryffindor commomroom once more. Both let out a sigh of relief as they made their way to bed. Except that they found an unexpected visitor perched comfortably on the single chair in their room.  
  
"Good evening, Mr. Rayne, Mr. Giles. I hope I'm not interrupting," Dumbledore said pleasantly as he uncoiled himself.  
  
A darker, more sinister figure melted out of the shadows and sneered at them from the other side. Rupert whirled around suspiciously, his senses going off with the close proximity of the unknown stranger. He let out a breath when he saw it was only Severus Snape. Green eyes narrowed slightly under the amused sneer on the other youth's face.  
  
"I am afraid, Professor Dumbledore, that you were right," Snape murmured unpleasantly, "I thought they had been kidnapped."  
  
"Understandable conclusion, Severus," Dumbledore agreed, "But I would still like a word with them both if you can find your own way back to your room. I believe you will now agree that they are not trying to tear the school down?"  
  
Snape gave a small bow of agreement and swept out. Rupert looked at his friend for guidance only to see a small frown of concentration on the other boy's face. Before he could say a word, however, Dumbledore had switched on the lights and gotten comfortable again.  
  
"Well, shall we begin this little chat?" the headmaster twinkled.  
  
Ethan recognized the seriousness belied behind the humor in his eyes. He sat down on his bed and cleared his throat. "We were conducting a spell, Professor Dumbledore."  
  
"Ethan!"  
  
"Shut up, Rupert," Ethan snapped back, before turning back to his silent audience, "We were, as I said, trying to cast. Not- not anything with wands or anything like that; just some simple earth magic. Both Rupert and I are- well, we're interested in that sort."  
  
Dumbledore nodded encouragingly, his eyes fixed on the two youths in front of him- one oozing sulky defiance and the other aware of the bigger picture. He wondered which one presented the more serious problem. Ethan swallowed and continued.  
  
"It was nothing, really. Just a- a meditation," he finished. The clever blue eyes peered intently at him. "Okay, we were looking to get high. There's this rush that this spell can give you, and it's not dangerous or anything. It just transfers the magic from the four elements around you to your own stores. It's like you're drunk on magic! It- well, we didn't think it would harm anyone."  
  
Rupert snorted, a sound that Dumbledore immediately centered on. "You disagree, Rupert?" he asked gently.  
  
"I'm a Watcher-in-Training, Professor Dumbledore, I know all about how all uses of magic have their negative consequences," the youth grated, "I think that's one lesson I can quote ad verbatim."  
  
"Really." The older man stroked his silvery beard and blinked thoughtfully. "I believe one learns something new every day; or night, as the case may be. I was not aware that all magic has evil connotations."  
  
Rupert shrugged.  
  
"It wasn't Rupert's fault, Professor Dumbledore," Ethan said fearfully. The sudden thought had occurred that his friend might get expelled for this and then what would Ethan do? Go back to being alone and outcast? No, he couldn't face that; not if he got detention for the rest of the term. "He wanted to wait, research it a bit more but I wouldn't listen."  
  
"Give it up, Ethan," Rupert growled, "It was both our faults and you know it!" Damned he was if Ethan sodding Rayne was going to play the martyr while he got off scot-free. Another little Watcher lesson for him- you were generally responsible for anything that went wrong around you; you should have been more careful, more watchful.  
  
"I think Ethan is trying to protect you," Dumbledore informed him cordially, "Which is nothing to be so upset about. But you are right; that will be pointless."  
  
Ethan paled. "What- what are you going to do?"  
  
"Expel me, o' course," Rupert sneered, folding his arms across his chest defiantly, "Ain't that what they preach to the masses- 'Mess up and you're out'?"  
  
"Actually we just aim to teach magic and a few other relevant subjects so as to enable all boys and girls to know the world they're living in," Dumbledore said with a modest smile down at his shoes. He sobered up again the next instant, "And I have no intention of expelling you. You may not want to be an intelligent young man with great potential, but the fact of the matter is that you are."  
  
Ethan let out a relieved sigh before he could stop himself. Of course, he might just be a little envious, but then he'd always accepted playing second fiddle to another. His mother had taught him that too.  
  
"Just as Ethan Rayne is. In all his years here, if he spent a quarter of his energy applying himself, he might be someone this school is proud of," Dumbledore continued calmly, smiling a little at the boy's sudden flush and the attempt to hide it.  
  
Rupert shot a look at his friend that gave the Headmaster a start of surprise. Not that Minerva hadn't hinted, but this was beyond what he'd imagined. Perhaps caution- "You should both get to bed now. I think we all need our beauty sleep before we discuss this further." He stood up, pleasantly wished them both goodnight and then left them alone to get to sleep.  
  
But his mind was troubled when he called Professor McGonagall to his office the next morning. "Was it them?" she asked instantly.  
  
"Yes," he replied, frowning lightly at the top of his cluttered table. He absently straightened a pen in its holder before realizing that Minerva had asked him a question.  
  
"Really, Albus, if you've called me here to ignore me then I would be better off eating breakfast," she snapped pointedly. "What is it? Are they in serious trouble?"  
  
"Yes, I believe they will soon be," Dumbeldore admitted, leaning back. His blue eyes, usually so full of laughter and humor, were serious and troubled. "If not right this minute, then in a few months or a few years. But they will be."  
  
Professor McGonagall's breath caught in her throat as she sank into a chair and stared speechlessly at her oldest friend. "Explain, Albus."  
  
Dumbledore shook his head hopelessly. "They're too powerful, too awake to their own potential. Mind you, I'm not saying they'll turn evil, but they might well damage their own lives in this mad dash to lose themselves in their magic. They were casting an intoxication spell, if you please, in the grounds last night."  
  
"What?! So close to the enchanted forest? Are they mad?" McGonagall gasped.  
  
"No, but far too young. When the Council asked me to take the boy on, I had no idea I would be potentially responsible for placing Rupert Giles' and Ethan Rayne's necks in nooses! The worst of it is, I think they're too fond of each other." He shot her an expressive look over his glasses.  
  
"Too fond of- oh dear God! But what exactly are you saying? Will they become a danger?"  
  
The Headmaster sighed. "It will probably turn out all right. But I believe their magic is not of our community. We cannot hope to hold them much longer. Ethan is becoming restless and with a kindred spirit like Rupert Giles, he is going to get even more so. They will leave and I am afraid we will have no hold on them."  
  
"So you're saying they have great potential but no control over it," McGonagall guessed.  
  
"Precisely! Only it will, of course, get more complex than that simple explanation," he reminded her, "There is nothing we can do to stop it except to try to encourage them both towards a less dangerous path. There are far too many avenues open to magic users that could spell disaster for the both of them. Perhaps it may be time to start supervising Giles' Watcher Studies."  
  
She nodded and they discussed options until she left for a class. But the tensions hung in the air until even Rupert Giles wanted to scream and take his frustrations out by punching Lucius Malfoy's perfect teeth down his throat. His wish was to come true sooner than he anticipated. 


	4. 4

"Give it back, you mudblood," Lucius snarled, advancing on the taunting boy.  
  
Rupert darted back a few more steps and held the paper up. "Now, now, Malfoy, play nice. I see you're writing poetry again. What is this one about?"  
  
"About the purity of blood," Lucius snapped, "Something no one like you can understand! Give it back before I-"  
  
"Before you what? Use those lily-white hands to try and hit me? Come on, then, Malfoy," Rupert taunted, fluttering the paper in his face and pulling it back, "Let's see whether you have the guts for this."  
  
Lucius sneered and nodded to one of his friends. "I wouldn't touch you with a ten foot pole, Giles. Get him!"  
  
Ethan found himself pushed unceremoniously off to the side while Rupert went one-on-one with a boy who looked like a gorilla and had the brains to prove it. Another one came for the willowy youth and he rolled his dark eyes and got down to the distasteful business of defending himself.  
  
James Potter and Sirius Black sat in the stands and placed bets as to who would come out victorious. Not that James didn't have one moment when he felt guilty and wondered if he should offer help. But the two looked like they were perfectly fine and there was no love lost between Ethan Rayne and James Potter at the best of times. This past year had only worsened it with Rupert egging Ethan on with his practical jokes and spells.  
  
Another parcel of girls stood to the side of the Quidditch field and giggled and chattered excitedly. One of them, a red-haired, blue-eyed little thing who had been taken under Giles' and Ethan's wings a few times, yelled a few encouragements to her heroes.  
  
"Come on, Giles! Kick his arse," she called, clapping her hands and jumping up and down.  
  
"Kathleen!" her friends gasped, giggling uncontrollably.  
  
Ethan paused long enough in the process of looking for the right opening to glance irritably at them and remember why he'd never liked girls. His eyes swung back to his opponent, who lunged for him and found a surprisingly strong fist at his jaw and another connecting with his stomach. The brute was down and didn't try getting up just yet.  
  
Rupert had toyed with his adversary for long enough to tire of the game, especially when the other guy introduced a heavy metal bracelet that almost helped knock him out for the count. He managed to clear the stars from before his eyes and roll out of the way. But Rupert was pissed enough to stop playing- he stood still, waited for the boy to rush him and stepped to the side. He grabbed the wrist flying past him and used his enemy's own momentum to help snap the bone. The crack rang out loud enough for Kathleen to pale. Sirius jumped to his feet but Potter pulled him back down. "Let's see how they handle it," James whispered, "And don't let's get involved; Malfoy will probably create enough trouble and McGonagall's not in the happiest of moods."  
  
Ethan merely looked at his friend's handiwork and nodded. "You'll do," he said sweetly.  
  
"You haven't won, Giles," Lucius snarled, "Now get your little bed buddy out of here before I think of what curse to use on you both."  
  
"You touch Ethan and I'll kill you," was out before Rupert could stop himself. Ethan looked as surprised as everyone else did. But now that Rupert had said it- he stared coldly at Malfoy, his arms loose and ready by his side.  
  
Ethan might have giggled at the likeness to a B grade Western movie in the Muggle world if he hadn't been so terrified that Rupert would get hurt. Because Rupert was a friend and Ethan had always assumed he would protect a friend. He began to frantically turn over the meager collection of memorized spells in his head but hadn't gotten past "Hecate, bind and protect to darkness-" on the first one when Lucius whipped out his wand.  
  
The wand sparkled and the effect was almost immediate except that Rupert wasn't hit by the painful paralyzing spell; Ethan was. The dark-haired boy groaned and whimpered as his muscles tightened painfully all over, locking into immobility.  
  
Rupert's green eyes flared and unbidden the exact page of an ancient text surreptitiously studied came to mind. Without bothering with his wand, he raised his hand and began to chant, the smooth flow of Latin slithering unbound and unfettered to lock around Lucius' throat, squeezing until the youth's eyes began rolling back in his head.  
  
Potter and Black raced down out of the stands. Not that Potter had liked Malfoy very much and at a pinch he preferred Giles to win any little battle than the silver-haired racist, but killing someone was something he couldn't condone for anyone. Green eyes snapping almost as much as Giles', the youth ran for the castor, the Latin making his bones ache.  
  
Ethan lay still locked in that haze of pain and thought he'd never seen anything more exquisite than this sight- Rupert Giles, the rebel, strangling someone without lifting so much as a finger. Then Potter's voice penetrated the air and Rupert remembered where he was. He dropped his hand, his lip curling disdainfully as Lucius dropped to the ground and desperately gulped in deep breaths of air. Then he turned to calmly flick his fingers over Ethan's form and murmur a reversal enchantment. "Ethan, you okay?"  
  
"My knight in shining armor," Ethan moaned, humor belying the almost serious undertone of honesty.  
  
"Shut up, you ponce," Rupert said affectionately.  
  
"You stupid, stupid pillock," James gasped, coming to a stop next to them. Sirius surged up behind them, huffing and panting for breath. "We thought you were gonna kill him!"  
  
"I was," Rupert said, looking uncomfortable. "For God's sake, the next time you see me do something like that, knock me out, hmmm?"  
  
Potter nodded.  
  
"You okay, Rayne?" Sirius grunted, pulling the lithe teenager to his shaky feet, "I think Madame Pomfrey would have something to make you feel better, if you want to go there."  
  
"No," Ethan said instantly. He rubbed his stiff neck and grimaced. "Uh, thanks." Dark eyes peeped wickedly out from under demure lashes and Sirius went red and stepped back hastily. "Oh, don't worry, love," Ethan laughed, "I'm not up to all that so soon!"  
  
Rupert turned a laugh into a cough and even Potter managed a smile. "We'll leave you to clean up your own mess now," James sighed, pointing to the still gasping Malfoy on the ground, "I've got to see a Captain about a Quidditch match."  
  
"Yeah, well, hope you fall off your broom," Rupert said sweetly, eyes glittering at him.  
  
"I'm guessing you know a spell for that too," Sirius laughed, following his friend away.  
  
Kathleen walked forward timidly, exclaiming over everyone on the field and then threatening to go into hysterics. Then she threw herself on Ethan's chest and declared she'd thought he was going to die.  
  
"And I'm sure you were very upset," Ethan grimaced, feeling his sore body protest.  
  
"I thought you were a goner," she sobbed, "And both of you were so wonderful, the way you fought off those bullies! Rupert just ripped into Malfoy, didn't he? Oh Merlin, how did you do that? You didn't even use a wand or nothing!"  
  
Rupert compressed his lips even tighter and tore her off Ethan, forbearing to growl when he saw the genuine confusion on her face. "A lot of my spells don't require a wand."  
  
"Oh." She turned that thought over in her head and came to a decision. "Will you teach me?"  
  
"Not bloody likely!" he jolted out forcibly, looking revolted by the very idea.  
  
"But then we can all fight the bullies," she insisted. "Come on, Rupert! Malfoy's picked on all of us the whole year round and you just ripped right through him and his gang!"  
  
"Oh, yes! A regular Jack the Ripper, isn't he?" Lucius grated, impatiently sending both his friends off to the Injuries Wing to get the broken wrist mended. He followed them backwards, his eyes still fixed furiously on Ethan Rayne. "You'll both be sorry," he called once before turning to stalk after his friends.  
  
"Ooo, Jack the Ripper!" Kathleen was clearly delighted with the idea. "Can I call you Jack? You know, like a pet name?"  
  
"No!" both Ethan and Rupert shouted, emitting a shudder each.  
  
"All right, then. What about Ripper?"  
  
Rupert laughed in her face, green eyes brimming with ironic humor at the thought. But Ethan was gazing at him with growing delight. Rupert realized with a sinking feeling exactly what was going to happen. "You are not calling me Ripper, Ethan."  
  
"But dearest, it's perfect!" his friend reasoned, jumping enthusiastically and pacing, "It's you!"  
  
Rupert raised an eyebrow. "The name of a knife-wielding serial murderer is me?"  
  
Ethan smacked him gently on the side of his head and found his wrist caught in a vice-like grip. "Like this! And not a serial murderer, love. Just someone who enjoys a spot of violence with his tea and biscuits! It suits you down to a T!"  
  
Kathleen giggled and clapped her hands. "Can we, can we? Please?"  
  
Rupert looked from Ethan to Kathleen and back again. "Oh, all right then! Go ahead! Just don't make a habit of it and don't use it in front of anyone else."  
  
That evening at dinner, Malfoy and his two bodyguards 'happened' to walk past the Gryffindor table and stopped behind Rupert and Ethan.  
  
"I haven't forgotten what I owe you two," Malfoy said softly, "Rayne, I think you need a lesson on how to obey your betters. I'd be careful if I were you."  
  
"Malfoy, one- you're an ugly git who's ruining my appetite," Rupert sighed, "And two- Ethan didn't almost strangle you to death, I did. You need revenge, you come to me." His only answer was a snort as Lucius walked off, his friends unable to do anything when the Potter Brigade, as Ethan affectionately called them, turned in their seats to help out some new allies. 


End file.
